The Boston Red Sox added two pairs of non-roster invitees to big-league camp Saturday, including the newly signed bats Christin Stewart and Rob Refsnyder, as well as the second-year Sox hurlers Michael Feliz and Zack Kelly.
The #RedSox today have added 4 non-roster invitees to the team's 2022 Spring Training roster:
P Michael Feliz
P Zack Kelly
OF Rob Refsnyder
OF Christin Stewart— Red Sox (@RedSox) December 21, 2021
Kelly, 26, went undrafted after four years in college but yet found his way onto the Athletics. After multiple elbow blowouts, Kelly would eventually end up with Boston in 2021 and have a phenomenal year with Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester, nearly getting called up to the Sox.
Kelly told Boston Sports Wave his story earlier this month. What was noted at the end of the story, was that he could sneak into a spot in Boston’s 2022 bullpen — that is a definite possibility.
Feliz, 28, spent his 2021 with four different clubs, although pitching just 21 outings altogether. With the Sox, he allowed two runs across four relief outings (3.38) before getting waived only to ultimately be picked back up by Boston in early December, signing a minor league deal.
Refsnyder, a right-handed contact hitter who is a platoon bat at best with average defense in the outfield, has spent the past four seasons with seven organizations. His most recent tenure came with the Twins, where through 51 games the 30-year-old hit a solid .245 with two homers, 12 RBI, a strong walk rate of 10.6 percent, amounting to an 86 wRC+. He was signed by the team earlier this month.
Refsnyder’s low numbers might not be too appealing to many but his fairly strong Baseball Savant percentiles could make him another sneaky good pickup from Chaim Bloom.
Stewart has spent his entire career with the Tigers organization and was up and down between the majors and minors. Stewart failed to make a big-league appearance in 2021 but did have a rather impressive Triple-A year. The 28-year-old left-handed bat, signed on the same day as Refsnyder, hit .254, posting 58 RBI and clubbing 21 homers while notching a 127 wRC+.